Starting this year and for the next ten years, Bowen Island can expect to receive payments of approximately $60 thousand per year because of a new Gas Tax Agreement signed between the Provincial and Federal governments. The municipal Manager of Finance, Kristen Watson, announced this news at council on Monday and was granted her request to establish a reserve fund for the money. George Zawadzki, a candidate for council, says he sees this money as the perfect opportunity to get rolling on a plan to build a better transportation system on-island through the establishment of a municipal taxi service.
“People seem to not like the word, ‘taxi,’” says Zawadzki. “What I envision would essentially be a taxi, but it would be more flexible, and it wouldn’t compete with the bus service that we already have. Gabriola Island has a service that’s comparable to what I envision, the difference is that while it is supported by the municipality, it is not run by it.”
The Gabriola service, called GERTIE (Gabriola’s Environmentally Responsible Transport for Islanders Express), offers transportation around the island via two 12-seater, bio-diesel powered buses, driven by volunteers.
“On Bowen, I see such a service being run by the municipality – and drivers would be municipal employees. Under the province’s passenger transportation legislation, you don’t need any kind of permit for a municipality to run such a service,” says Zawadzki. “During the day, the bus or van could go to parts of the island where the TransLink bus doesn’t. During the evening, people could simply call up and have it pick them up and drop them off whereever they needed it to. Also, we could do things like run tours for foot passengers coming off the ferry in the summer time. The revenue generated through these kinds of activities would go back into supporting the service.”
Zawadzki adds that restaurant owners as well as bed and breakfast owners he’s spoken with have expressed their support for the idea.
“One restaurant owner I spoke with in the Cove said such a service would likely mean two tables extra being booked per night,” he says. “And I’ve talked to Bed and Breakfast owners who are recommending that their guests hitchhike because they’re not on the bus route, or the buses don’t run when they need them to. This is just not acceptable.”
He adds that the benefits of a taxi-like service would not just be economic, but also environmentally beneficial– because it could take cars off the road; helpful to relieve parking congestion; and also, socially beneficial.
On this final benefit, Zawadzki speaks from personal experience.
“Ever since I had my license temporarily suspended three years ago, I don’t go out much to visit friends in the evenings,” he says. “Having a taxi service would be really helpful for people like me who want to connect socially, but don’t want to have to worry about being stuck somewhere because they had a drink or two.”
